There are many religions in the world. Only one claims relevance for the entire world and embodies a built-in compulsion for its proclamation to the world: "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son" (John 3:16). "This is indeed ... the Saviour of the world" (4:42). "The bread of God is He which ... giveth life unto the world"; "the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world" (6:33, 51). "There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (there's the compulsion, Acts 4:12). "The gospel … is God's power to save all who believe, first the Jews and also the Gentiles" (Rom. 1:16, GNB). "God our Saviour ... will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:3, 4). He "is the Saviour of all men, especially of those that believe" (4:10). "He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2). "The everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people" (Rev. 14:6).
Not all will be eternally saved, for many choose to disbelieve and reject. When this religion was announced by an angel, he proclaimed, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men" (Luke 2:14). Jews and Arabs in the Middle East need to know about it; so do Republicans and Democrats; so do blacks and whites; Orientals and Westerners; rich and poor; young and old. Iraq and Afghanistan need to hear it. No other knowledge can successfully counteract the evil that threatens life and happiness on earth today.
The proclamation of this saving knowledge is entrusted to a remnant church in the last days (Rev. 14:12; 12:17). A repentance symbolized by a mighty angel will make possible its proclamation, says Revelation 18, and for a brief time the entire world will be "lightened with his glory" (vss. 1-4). But never do we read that the entire world will accept the message! The Titanic will sink; but "whoseover believeth shall not perish." That number who will believe may be more than we have realized.
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 18, 1998.Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.
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